A Tale of Perserverance
by lime-oku
Summary: Lily and James are in their 6th year James is still madly in love with Lily, and determined to win her over Lily is equally determined not to yield. An interesting story ensues... A Tale of Perserverance my first fic! LJ! Be nice! READ!
1. How could you do this to our team?

"In!" Professor McGonagall pointed furiously to the door of her office. Sirius Black and James Potter quickly obeyed, and stepped into the room. Professor McGonagall swept in after them, almost slamming the door behind her. She strode to stand behind her desk and pointed a shaking finger at the two vacant seats opposite her.

"Sit!" The two boys exchanged a quick glance before dropping into the chairs which, after almost six years worth of lectures and detentions served together in their head of house's office had become almost exclusively their's.

Sirius and James looked up expectantly at the professor's seething face, and steeled themselves for the explosion.

"Potter! Black! _Explain yourselves!_ "

"Snape provoked us!" Sirius protested.

"Yeah! He insulted my- he insulted- he…. Insulted my taste. Professor," James said, reddening slightly.

"In what way, Mr Potter, could Mr Snape have insulted your _taste_?" McGonagall demanded.

"He… He… He er…." James faltered. Sirius suppressed a grin.

"Sniv - Snape made the grand mistake of calling Lily Evans a dirty mudblood slut, Professor," Sirius explained calmly. "He said she wasn't fit to go to Hogwarts, and if James here couldn't see that, then he was just as bad. But, he said, he'd known _that_ for six years," finished Sirius in a rush, hardly able to keep the venom from his voice.

The corners of Professor McGonagall's tight lips twitched upwards slightly in to a smile for a second. She spoke in an attempt at her usual stern voice. "While Mr Potter may have been… offended by Mr Snape's slander of Miss Evans, I still fail to understand _your_ part in this incident Mr Black. Explain!"

Sirius answered with a charming smile. " James is my best mate, Professor. An offence to him is an offence to me too. I stick up for my friends, Professor," he said sincerely.

"Very touching, I'm sure, Mr Black. However I'm quite certain you may forget this act of brotherliness to Mr Potter by the time Saturday's Quidditch match comes around, in which _you will not be playing_!"

There was a few seconds of shocked silence while James and Sirius processed this terrible information.

'What do you mean, _not playing_?" James choked, " Professor, we only have three matches to go before the cup final! Sirius can't miss a match! We'd have to get a new beater! It would change everyth-"

"Not just Mr Black will be missing the game. You too, Mr Potter," Professor McGonagall interrupted.

"But _Professor_-" James and Sirius said together.

'No buts. I've made my decision!"

"Professor, _please!_ Snape's fine now. He didn't even get hurt or anything!" James cried.

"Yeah- unfortunately", Sirius muttered under his breath.

"You jinxed his broom to fly him into the middle of the Forbidden Forest! IN THE _MIDDLE_ OF SLYTHERIN QUIDDITCH PRACTICE!" McGonagall yelled, losing her temper all over again.

"He found his way out again! And yeah, the Whomping Willow smashed his broom to pieces, but if you ask _me _it was time he got a new one anyway! It _was_ pretty damn sucky!"

"I'LL THANK YOU NOT TO USE THAT LANGUAGE IN MY OFFICE MR BLACK!" McGonagall yelled.

"Sorry Professor," said Sirius.

"We'll pay for a new broomstick, Professor! Can't we just do a week's detentions instead or something?" James pleaded.

McGonagall smiled wryly at him. "Considering that this incident took place _during_ your last detention scrubbing the dried gum off the bottom of the stadium seats, I should say that would be a definite **NO**!"

"But Professor-" said the two boys in unison.

"I'm sorry boys. My decision is final."

"But-" they said together.

"NO! Now leave my office my office immediately. I believe I am in need of a nice, strong cup of coffee and a little rest. I have a terrible headache."

"Suspended. For a whole game!" said Sirius disbelievingly in the common room that night.

"And so close to the cup final!"

"This is terrible."

"Tell me about it."

The four marauders, Peter, Remus, James and Sirius sat huddled together in the corner of the Gryffindor common room, discussing the terrible predicament of the Gryffindor team. The rest of the common room was noisy and bustling with people chatting to friends and sweating over homework and study for the coming exams. Everybody seemed to be blissfully unaware of the small, glum group in the corner of the room, and indeed, James and Sirius had been avoiding telling anyone yet about their punishment.

"We're doomed!" Sirius moaned dramatically.

Remus laughed. "_Such_ the Drama Queen. Honestly, it's not the end of the world if you miss one match, Sirius!"

"Hey! Drama _King_, if you please!" Sirius reproached him. "And it may not be the end of the _world_, but it's end of _us_ winning the Quidditch House Cup!"

"Yeah- _much_ worse." James nodded seriously.

"If you guys can't play on Saturday…. Hey! But _that_ means we'll have to get a new chaser _and_ a new beater to replace you!" said Peter, stating the obvious as usual. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Oh, you _think_?" he replied in a sarcastic voice. Wormtail was so slow on the uptake- they'd been discussing this for at least 20 minutes.

"This is just so unfair!" moaned James.

"Damn Snivellus and his stupid twig of a broom stick!" Sirius cursed.

"I hate him." James said to the world in general.

"Join the club," Sirius said bitterly.

"Trust me Padfoot. I joined that club _long_ ago."  
The group sat in a heavy silence for a few moments, apparently too overcome with grief (or amused disbelief- Remus) to speak. Peter's stomach rumbled loudly.

"You do know this is all your own fault, right?" Remus said finally.

"All too well," James sighed.

"Yeah- but it makes me feel better to blame someone else," Sirius admitted.

More silence, broken occasionally by sighs from Sirius or James.

James sighed. "I'm going to bed," James said, "Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and find out this had all been a bad dream."

"Wait up Prongs- I'm coming too," Sirius said, gathering his un-done, over-due homework from the coffee table into his arms and rising from his armchair.

"Me too," Remus got up and stretched his arms.

"Yeah! Me three!" Peter cried, and sprang enthusiastically to his feet. James groaned at him.

"_God_ Wormtail, that is so cliché!" Sirius snapped at him.

"Yeah, grow up, Wormtail," James harshly, taking his frustration out on his friend.

Remus whistled quietly. Ouch. James turned and followed Sirius up the stairs to the dormitory.

"That was… _harsh_," said Peter softly, watching them go. Remus sighed, patted Peter's arm sympathetically and offered him a warm smile before he too proceeded up to bed.

Lily entered the Great Hall the next morning to the usual roar of sound- the clattering of plates and chattering of hungry teenagers filled her ears. Her emerald green eyes scanned the Gryffindor table until they found her friends, who were smiling and waving at her. Lily waved back, then started across the hall to join them.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lily suddenly saw a mass of messy black hair bob up from a seat along the isle she was walking along. Reluctantly, she looked up into the eager face of James Potter.

"Lily, will you out with m-" he began.

"No!" Lily replied forcefully, as she nimbly sidestepped the tall boy, and finished the last few strides to where her three friends were sitting eating their breakfast. She slid into a seat in between two girls and pulled an empty plate towards her.

"So by the way, Frank asked me to Hogsmeade this weekend," a round-faced blonde girl was saying as Lily sat down.

"Really? What's the occasion? - Hi Lily," replied Emily, sitting on Lily's other side.

"This week's our anniversary!" said Alice happily.

"Oh yeah, it's –what – two years since your first date?" Said Emily.

"Yup. Two years ago this Friday," nodded Alice.

"Speaking of dates," Lily said conversationally, "Potter just asked me out – again."

Eve, a slim blonde girl sitting on the other side of the table, laughed. "Old news – James asks you out every day practically!"

"Yuh- huh" Emily's head of thick brown hair nodded in agreement.

"Quite close to the number of times you proclaim your hatred of him on a daily basis, Lils," Eve said with a teasing grin.

"I _do_ hate him!" Lily snapped indignantly, her eyes blazing. The girls giggled at the angry, defensive expression on her face.

Lily, Alice, Evelyn and Emily had been best friends since first year, when they had first shared a dormitory together.

Emily was quite tall, with a bonze tan and a strong, athletic body. She had shoulder length brown hair, a powdering of freckles on her nose, and a confident attitude to match even that of Sirius Black. (Who was, as Emily sighed to her friends, the hottest guy in the history of Hogwarts School and, as Lily said, perfect for Emily in every way.)

She was also very stubborn, always said exactly what she was thinking, and a loyal friend.

Evelyn was quite thin, with a fragile appearance and a delicate pale complexion. She was quieter than Emily or Lily, but never afraid to speak up for what she believed in. Evelyn was also an avid bookworm, a characteristic she shared with Lily.

Alice was the peacemaker of the group, with a round, bright face that was never without a smile. She had light, blonde hair and round, friendly brown eyes.

"It's not funny!" Lily protested as her friends grinned helplessly at her.

"Yes sir!" Emily saluted jokingly. Lily glared at her. The giggles fizzled out into silence under Lily's black scowl, each of the girls fighting to keep a straight face. Evelyn was bighting her lip to keep from laughing. Emily had a hand clamped over her mouth, and Alice was trying to suppress her giggles through a large mouthful of pancakes.

Unable to contain herself, Emily snorted, sending them all, except Lily, lapsing into giggles again. Lily rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly.

"So _Alice_, another date with Longbottom this weekend, huh?" Lily said, changing the subject. Alice smiled and blushed faintly.

"Yeah, that's right. I guess you girls will have to go around with out me," she said apologetically.

"Well, we'll have Danice and Verity with us too, remember?" Lily reminded her.

Danice Chiffon and Verity Hooch were two of Lily's friends from Ravenclaw. They often spent time with the girls, but had recently been too busy with their extension classes in Herbology and Arithmancy, on top of Quidditch practice

(Verity was a Quidditch fanatic). Lily knew the two girls from her NEWT potions class.

Danice was a muggle-born computer- holic with loose curls of shoulder length dark hair and oval shaped glasses. Danice was what, in the muggle-world, might be described as 'Emo', or at least, that was the image of herself she liked to give people. Over the six years Danice had known the Wizarding world, she still had not forgiven it for it's apparent complete lack of computer technology.

Verity had long, blonde hair which she wore scraped back into a ponytail (she never made an effort with her hair, and found it the 'most tiresome of burdens, including homework, and the trial of her life'.). She had sharp green-grey eyes that could see anything, and had won her the position of Seeker on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

"I suppose so. You won't be _totally _lost without me, then?" Alice joked.

"No, no," Eve assured her, " You go along with Frank and-" Emily, grinning suggestively interrupted her.

"Do _whatever you want to do_- you know, I've heard there's an old cave round the back of that rocky hill at the end of Hogsmeade – nice and private, eh Alice?"

Alice flushed and whacked Emily with the back of her hand.

"A cave? Really?" said Eve excitedly, completely missing the point of the comment. "Ooh, d'you think we could go check it out sometime? Maybe do a bit of exploring?" Emily laughed at her eagerness.

"I think that sort of thing might be more in out friend James Potter's vicinity of work – Miss Lily here may not approve," she said, glancing down the long table at James, who was sitting with his friends a few seats down.  
Lily looked too, and said to no one in particular, "I hate him."

"So we've heard," said Alice in a bored voice.

"He's _such_ an idiot. Just _look_ at him!" Lily indicated James, who was entertaining his fellow diners by juggling two roast potatoes and an apple from his plate.

"Whatever Lily, he's cute," Em said, ladling baked beans over her spaghetti.

"Cute? _Cute?_" Lily said incredulously, " He's an arrogant prat!"

Alice sighed. "You _know_ he's crazy about you, Lil. Maybe if you just _tried_ to get to know him-"

"No! I know all that I need to know about James Potter- enough to know that he is the world's biggest bigheaded prat! And enough to know that I _hate him with every fibre of my being_!"

"But Lils, come on-" Eve tried.

"**NO**!" Lily stood up, her cheeks flaring red.

"Lily, really, now you're just being-" Alice tried to reason with her friend.

Lily turned on her heel and strode out of the Hall. James, seeing her leave, jumped up to follow her. Remus grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Prongs- don't"

"What?" James said, surprised.

"You're the last person Lily wants to see when she's mad".

"Gee, thanks," James snorted and turned to leave again.

"James! No offence mate, but Remmy's right," Sirius said, pulling him back.

Remus snorted incredulously. "Remmy?" he said in disbelief.

Sirius shrugged. "Nickname? Terms of endearment? I don't know, it was the first thing that popped into my head."

"Whatever. That's not the point. The point is James really shouldn't - "Remus trailed off as he turned back to the spot where James had been standing seconds before. He glanced up just in time to see his friend disappear through the double doors of the Great Hall.

"Damn! Now look what he's gone and gotten himself into!" Remus muttered. Beside him, Sirius rose from the bench.

"Yeah- listen, I'm going to go find Peter; he hasn't come down to breakfast this morning."

"Yeah, okay, you do that. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Peter since last night," Remus's brow furrowed in concern.

"You were a bit harsh on him last night, you know Padfoot," Remus added.

"Yeah, I know. I was still all torn up over the Quidditch thing… and decided to vent my frustration on him."

"As per usual," Remus said with a grim smile.

"Hmm, not one of my best attributes", agreed Sirius.

"Although, as with all your other unattractive qualities, it is more than made up for in your stunningly handsome looks, am I right?" said Remus, suppressing a smile.

"Naturally", laughed Sirius. "Anyway, I'm gonna go find and say sorry."

"Right- See you then. I'm going to go try and retrieve our friend James," Remus said, throwing his napkin down on his plate and standing up.

Sirius laughed, also standing up to leave. "He is so far gone, it's insane."

"He really does love her, doesn't he?"

"Closer to stalker, if you ask me."

"Unfortunately for us."

"See you in Potions."

"Yeah. Bye."

They left the hall.

"Lily! Lily, wait up!" James yelled out as he jogged to catch up with her. As he drew level with her, he slowed to walk.

"What's up, Doll?" he asked. Lily turned away from him, holding a hand up to her face. She didn't want James to know she had been crying.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands.

"Lily?" James said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder. Lily flinched at his touch and a shiver went down her spine.

She shrugged his hand off, turned to face him and forced herself to look up into his eyes.

Big mistake.

Those eyes- those big hazel eyes, famous throughout the school for leading so may girls close to insanity. Even Lily Evans was hard put to escape the warm peat bog of James Potter's lush hazel eyes.

But nothing is impossible.

Lily blinked and turned away again, to hide her face, which had taken on a slightly pink tinge.

"What's wrong, Dove?" he said again, using yet another of the nicknames for Lily from the list that he had compiled over the years (arranged from 1 to 26 on which made Lily's face go reddest with anger).

not want to hurt his feelings. She did not want to wipe away the warm, encouraging smile that now adorned his face.

WHAT? Lily shook herself angrily. She didn't care about James! She hated James!

What was WRONG with her today? Maybe she was just tired….

Boldly she tilted her chin upwards to speak to him, but found that her words came out in a muddled jumble.

James bent down low to try and catch what she was saying.

"Well you see…. Friends…..This boy……a date……breakfast…..crush….AHHH….Potter!"

James' brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of what she was saying.

Boy? Date? Breakfast?

James' mind reeled as he came to a terrible conclusion.

Lily had been asked out by a boy at breakfast! On a date! No! He couldn't let this happen! NO!

Lily was HIS!

James wrenched his hands from Lily's arm and turned away, as he hit his hand on his forehead.

This couldn't be happening! Of course, Lily had had boyfriends before, but if she was this worked up about it.…. What if- what if she was IN LOVE with this boy, this mystery boyfriend!!!!

"Potter? No offence or anything, really!" Lily was speaking to him now, her hand on his shoulder, trying to bring him round to face her.

What was she saying? No offence? That didn't seem to fit with what she had said before… or what he had thought she had said….

"What? What do you mean?" he asked.

"Er- well, no offence because…. Because I HATE you!" She said.

James, who did not seem to have heard the insult in these words, replied "So- so you're not going out with some guy?"

"Um, did you not HEAR me Potter? I said, 'I _hate_ you'!"

"Hmmm?" James did not seem to take in what she was saying, his eyes glazed over as he stared dreamily into Lily's eyes.

"Potter!" James jerked as he snapped out of his reverie.

"YOU'RE STILL A SINGLE WOMAN!" he whooped, and threw his arms around her in a tight embrace.

Lily relaxed into the position for a moment, her eyes (which had drifted shut) snapped open as she seemed to realize her position. She struggled against James' death grip, before she finally managed to get her hands up on his chest and push herself away from him.

As she stepped back out of the embrace, she slapped his cheek as hard as she could with the back of her hand.

James' cheek turned bright red where she had slapped it, and the other side of his face soon joined it as he realized what he had just done.

"What is WRONG with you?" Lily gasped.

"I- sorry! I just- couldn't help myself!" James mumbled.

Lily let out an exasperated groan and strode away down the corridor.

James, furious with himself, hit his forehead with the heel of his palm, mentally cursing his blundering tactlessness.

He turned about, meaning to make his way back to his unfinished breakfast, only to find himself face to face with Emily Hayward, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"Em! What-" he was cut off.

"What's this I hear about you being banned from the next match?" she demanded, staring angrily up into his face (she was at least a head shorter than him).

"Um- what? Em, what're you-"

"HOW-COULD-YOU-DO-THIS-TO-OUR-TEAM?!" she yelled, her finger stabbing into his chest with each syllable.

"Emily, I can explain-" he tried to speak.

"YOU HAVE RUINED OUR CHANCES AT THE CUP! WE'RE COMPLETELY SCREWED! DO YOU HEAR ME??? COMPLETELY SCREWED!" Emily ranted on.

"EMILY! LISTEN TO ME!" James shouted back, "DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT I WOULD GET SUSPENDED ON PURPOSE??? ARE YOU _THAT STUPID_!??"

"ARE YOU CALLING ME STUPID?? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU??? YOU JUST DON'T UNDER-" here Emily broke off, her voice crackling from all the yelling. Something caught in her throat, and she choked.

"Em? Are you okay? Emily?" James whacked her on the back, which only caused Emily to bite her tongue. Tears began to leak out of her eyes from the pain.

Seeing the blood on her lips and the tears on her face, James took her and drew her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry! I'm sorry Em!"

Emily lifted her head from his robed chest and, looking up at him, rasped "No. No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you….. Not your fault."

James smiled at her. "You're getting my robes all wet", he commented.

Emily grinned up at him. "Here-"

She pulled out her wand from her robes and began to siphon off the water and blood on front of his robes.

Lily strode down the corridor, away from Potter. She thought she heard him yell something after her, but didn't turn around. Potter! He was just so clueless!

Couldn't he see, after 6 years, that she wanted nothing to do with him???

6 years! 6 years of rejection and refusal! Why hadn't he given up on her yet? The number of times she had stamped on that enormous ego of his, spat on his advances, slapped him for his proposals of a day in Hogsmeade!

And yet still he kept at it!

Lily shook her head. She couldn't understand it.

She couldn't understand how anyone could EVER understand the twisted brain of James Potter.

She supposed it was just a Guy Thing, and thus dismissed the idea.

Why had she walked away from him? She didn't really know. He had been perfectly civil to her. He had even tried to comfort her.

Lily rounded the corner of the corridor then stopped, and leant against the wall, her eyes closed.

She did feel bad for leaving him like that. After all, he was only trying to be nice.

She could hear his voice now- he had stopped calling after her, and from what she could hear, now seemed to be engaged in conversation (a rather loud one) with another person- female by the sounds of it.

Filled with a sudden, unregistered jealousy, Lily got up, and stepped back into the corridor, then stopped short in shock at the sight that lay before her.

Potter- standing there, hugging, CUDDLING another girl. _Holding_ another girl!

A furious growl reverberated in her stomach- how _dare_ he! Just seconds after he had been hugging her, Lily!

But- Wait! She didn't WANT Potter to hold her, OR cuddle her! What was she thinking?!

As Lily stood there, frozen to the spot, she saw the girl's head of brown hair lift from James' (No! _Potter's_, she checked herself) chest, and smile up at him. From the distance, Lily could not make out who it was.

The Brunette (as Lily called her in her mind) pulled out her wand from her pocket, and began to trace it over James' (_Potter's_, _Potter's_!) chest.

Lily looked on, puzzled.

Then the girl drew away from Potter, and walked away up the opposite end of the corridor.

Lily decided she had had enough. She turned to go back, but at that moment James turned around and spotted her.

_Dang! _She thought desperately.

He started after her. "Lily!" he called. "Lily, Lily, Lily, Lily, Lily!"

Lily screwed up her eyes in frustration, and turned around. "Yes, I_ hear_ you Potter!"

"Lily!" Potter gasped one last time as he stopped in front of her.

"What is it, Potter?" Lily muttered through gritted teeth.

"Lily!" he said again.

"Yes, I heard you the first time, Potter! _What is it_?"

"Yes, but see Lila, sounding like a broken record is one of my specialties!"

"What do you want, Potter?" Lily said flatly.

"Come on Lila! It's not what it looks like! Really!"

"Then what was it?" said Lily, flaring up again. "For what reason would you HUG another girl, other than-"

"But she was crying!"

Crying? Oh, please! Potter, face it, girls don't come to you for compassion, they come to you for-"

"NO! I made her cry!"

"You made her cry? Potter, you-"

"Well, it wasn't really me-"

"Be realistic, Potter. You make plenty of people cry."

"Oh? Do I make _you_ cry?" he asked mischievously, unable to resist the chance to tease her.

Lily glared at him. "WHY was she crying into your chest, Potter?" She demanded. James could almost see the steam coming out of her ears.

"Oh- that. Well, I s'pose I _did_ make her cry…" he fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Dimwit".

"But she bit her tongue!"

"She- _what_?" She stared at him as is he was crazy.

James looked sheepish.

"Well- she bit her tongue!" he said lamely.

"Yes, we've already established that fact, Potter," replied Lily, "_How_ did she bite her tongue?"

"I, um, whacked her on the back," James said.

"You-" Lily stared at him incredulously.

"Well, actually, it was more of a 'thwack' than a 'whack'", James speculated absently.

"Potter!" Lily cried.

"Hmm? Oh. Yes?"

"Why did you-"

"Whack her on the back? Well, she was crying and choking, so I-"

"Wait- choking?"

"Well. Yeah."

Lily snorted.

"Well, what was I supposed to do, just stand there?"

"So now she's choking? Choking! Am I supposed to believe this- this-"

"Yes, you are! She was choking because she was yelling at me-"

"That still makes it your fault!" Lily muttered.

"- because of the detention, and-"

"Wait- what? You got another detention? Potter, I can't _believe_ you!"

"It was just because of Snape!" James made a face. "He insulted my- my-"

"WHAT??? You did something to Snape? AGAIN? You idiot!"

"But I-"

"You horrible, infuriating child! You have another detention ALREADY!"

"But-"

"When did this happen?" She demanded.

"Oh, during detention", said Potter in an off-hand voice.

Lily threw her hands up in defeat. She let out an exasperated sigh, and took a few steps away, then turned back again to ask, "Why would she care about your detention?"

"Who? Oh, Em? Well-"

"Wait- Em? You mean Emily Hayward?"

"Well, yes, she was the one who-"

"Yes, yes," Lily said sharply, privately thinking that she was going to kill Emily later.

"Why would Emily care about your detention?" she asked.

_Oh shoot_, thought James, _she's got me_.

"Well…." He began carefully. Lily recognized his tone. "Out with it, Potter!" she said dangerously.

"Well, he was sort of in the middle of Quidditch practice-"

"Who was? Oh, Snape? But I still don't see why- unless- _you can still play can't you_?" she said, her eyes flashing dangerously.

James looked away uncomfortably. Lily walked straight back up to him.

"Potter! You can still play, can't you?! POTTER!"

James just grinned shiftily.

"Ahhhrrgh!" Lily threw herself at him in frustration.

"How-could-you-do-this-to-our-team!!???" she said, pounding his chest with her fist with every word.

_Now, where have I heard this before?_ James wondered vaguely, then flinched at a particularly hard jab of Lily's knuckles.

"Ouch, that's going to bruise, Evans!" he teased her, rubbing his chest.

"DON'T JOKE AROUND WITH ME POTTER! YOU MAY WELL HAVE RUINED OUR CHANCES AT THE QUIDDITCH CUP! You- you SELF CENTRED BUSH PIG!" she yelled.

"Hey, that's actually pretty original, Evans. Congrats."

Lily looked at the ceiling and shook her head.

"Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

"Oh, you mean apart from the fact that Sirius and I have detention every day for the next month and can't play in the match on Sat-"

"WHAT???? SIRIUS TOO?" Lily exploded, her eyes almost popping out of her head.

"This is just getting worse and worse! Next you're going to be telling me that Gander is suspended too! Or- or Gabson!"

"Well…" James shifted awkwardly on his feet.

Lily gasped audibly.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!!! THREE BLOODY TEAM MEMBERS! POTTER, YOU-"

Lily really let loose now, her arms waving in the air, her green eyes flashing with fury, and her scarlet hair practically standing on end as she screamed at him.

James looked at her blazing cheeks affectionately. She was so cute when she was mad.

"Evans, Evans, come down! I'm just messin' with you, Doll!" he said, putting his hand on her shoulder to calm her.

Lily took a few moments to recollect herself.

"Yes. Well. I'll thank you, Mr. Potter, not to 'mess with me'. It is extremely damaging to my very fragile mental health. As you can see…." She said, gesturing to her disheveled hair and flushed cheeks.

She turned and stalked away up the corridor.

"Oh, it damages mine too, and mine's not even fragile!" he yelled after her.

Grinning broadly, James turned and walked back to the Gryffindor common room to collect his books for Potions.


	2. And that's score 3 on the arm count!

**Hello every body! This is the second chapter of my new SUPERSTORY and boy am I PSHCYED! **

**Did I mention I LOVE YOU ALL for reading my junk???? **

**This chapter used to be part of the first one, but then I got really impatient, and couldn't WAIT to post SOMETHING, partly because I felt like such a loser with this huge profile, but no stories. **

**Also, I am very, very sorry about the terrible distinction between the scenes in the first chapter! There USED to be nice black lines to go between the scenes, but then the stupic computer DELTED THEM when I tried to upload my story, dammit! **

**READ, ENJOY, REVIEW. **

**I love you all!**

**Lime-oku**

**DISCLAIMER: They tell me I have to put this thing in. I kind of, OOPS, forgot in the first chapter. **

"**I do not own Harry Potter." Way to ruin my self esteem, I actually thought that I was JK for a moment there. As if. **

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"And that's score 3 on the arm count!"

BANG. The table jerked as Sirius dumped his books forcefully onto the table top beside James.

James looked up at him. "Well, you're in a good mood. "

"I wonder why," Sirius muttered. It was obvious that he had not gotten over his suspension yet.

James patted his arm sympathetically as Sirius plopped down into the seat beside him.

"So, Any luck with Peter?" he changed the subject.

"Nope. I looked, but I couldn't find him. Poor guy. I feel bad about…. You know."

"Last night? Yeah. Me too. I guess we were just…"

"Frustrated after…."

"That thing…."

"The suspension…"

"McGonagall…"

"And then we just…."

"Took it out on him…."

"Peter…."

"Poor guy…."

"You said that….."

"I know….. but.."

"Poor guy…."

"Yeah…."

"We do that a lot, don't we?"

"Yeah…."

"More than we should?"

"We shouldn't at all…."

"We suck…"  
"Yeah…."

"Not very fair…."

"Fair on him? No…."

"Not that we do it on pupose…."

"Or that that's any excuse…."

"Yeah….."

"Poor guy, " they said together.

(**A/N: that was yet another of Sirius and James' very random conversations. Keep reading!)**

The two sat in silence for a few moments, until the dungeon door opened, and Peter came in.

He nudged Sirius, who looked up too.

"Peter! Peter, over here, Peter! Oi, Peter, Peter, Peter, come, sit over here!" yelled Sirius at the top of his voice. The class turned around to see where all this horrendous noise was coming from, and then, upon seeing that it was (predicably) only Sirius Black, from whose mouth such noises were often produced in such a ridiculous fashion, went back to their individual conversations.

Peter, smiling weakly, came over to join them. "Oh- hey Padfoot."

"Hey, what about me?" James said indignantly. "Don't I get a welcome?"

Peter's smile gained a little more warmth, but he refused to meet their eyes. . "Hey, James," he said obligingly.

He dropped his bag to the floor and took a seat at their table.

"Hey, listen, Wormtail, about last night-" James started.

Peter cut him off. "It's fine. Really," he said in an offhand voice, still refusing to look at them.

He bent down to get his books from his bag.

James and Sirius exchanged a glance. "No. No, it's not fine. Peter, mate, we shouldn't have said those things to you," said James.

"Fine," Peter repeated again, his voice still lacking any real conviction.

James and Sirius pretended not to hear.

"Yeah. It was… it was really slack of us. Peter, we're really sorry."

"_Really_ sorry, Wormtail," James added.

"We weren't really angry at you, mate," Sirius explained.

"Just, you know, pissed off about the whole-"

"Detention-"

"Suspension-"

"Thing."

"And then we just-"

"Took it out on you."

"Yeah."

"We're sorry."

"It's okay," Peter said softly.

"No, we're really sorry. Really, _REALLY_ sorry. "

"Really, really, really, really, REALLY, REALLY-"

"Okay, yes, I get the point," Peter raised his voice for the first time, unable to keep a grin from spreading across his face.

James and Sirius saw the smile, and took confidence in it.

"It didn't help that we were still all whacked out on that half a bottle of firewhisky from that morning either." James joked.

"And those Honeydukes chocolates, the new ones, remember? They were dodgy," Sirius added.

"Yes! Those orange ones? They _were_ dodgy!" James caught on.

"Indeed. Taste terrible!"

"Like- like- like and owl! No, a screech owl!"

"How do you know what an owl tastes like?" Peter asked curiously.

James fidgeted, "When I was about 5, my dad has this screech owl in his study, and-"

"Stop! I don't think I want to know!" Peter interrupted.

"Fair enough. It was… pretty messy," James said.

They laughed, glad for the frost to have finally lifted.

James sighed. "Shame.."

"What's a shame?"

"The owl. 'Twas a nice owl, was ol' Alfredo."

"Alfredo?"

"The owl's name."

"Oh."

There was a pause.

"You ate your father's owl?" asked Peter.

"His father's screech owl, no less." Sirius added.

"Well, I didn't actually get around to eating it- I was about to. I had it all cut up, and everything, but then-" James stopped and sighed, then continued. "My mum came along by the study, and saw me."

"Ouch," said Sirius.

"Yup. My left buttock was never the same again."

They all laughed again.

"So anyway, James, what did Lily say?" said Sirius.

But just then, the dungeon door burst open again, and Professor Slughorn squeezed his large belly inside, and trotted, wheezing up to the front of the classroom. After Slughorn had collapsed against his desk, and spent a few seconds recuperating from his exhausting trip from the potions staffroom (25 metres down the hallway), the lesson began.

As the chatter died down around them, James glanced about the room. Where was Remus? He had been at breakfast….. Why wasn't he here now?

James shot a sideways glance at Sirius, who appeared to have been thinking the same thing.

James furrowed his brow at Sirius and mouthed "Moony….?"

He shrugged his shoulders at James, then turned his attention back to Slughorn, who had pulled out a stack of exam practice papers, and was brandishing them at the class.

At that moment, the dungeon door banged open yet again, revealing the tall, pale body of Remus. He nodded apologetically at the class for the interruption, and winked in the direction of his friends' table. He made his way to the front of the class and, producing a small white slip of paper, handed it to Slughorn, who glanced at it, then returned to the lesson.

Remus came to sit down with the other Marauders, only smiling and mouthing 'Later' to their questioning looks.

Making a mental note to ask Remus about is later, James picked up his quill and returned his attention to the lesson.

"… papers were, as usual, reasonably well done, but I think there is still a little room for improvement," Slughorn was saying. "However, as usual, there was one exception- Miss Evans?"

The Miss Evans in question, sitting in the front or the room, raised a hand. "Here, sir."

"An exceptional effort! 105, nothing out of the ordinary! The only thing that I would be worried about for your potions exam, my dear, is that the examiners will be blinded by the bright light of your exceptional performance, and hence rendered unable to mark your paper!"

The class snorted into their sleeves at Slughorn's ridiculous speech, as Lily attempted to compose her face into a 'modest and generous' expression.

Slughorn continued. "An 'O' Miss Evans, and well done to you! Keep up the good work! And incidentally, I hope you will be joining us for the SC's little party this evening?"

Lily nodded graciously, humoring him. There was, of course, no way that she would be setting a foot inside that party. She had never enjoyed Slughorn's little get-togethers, not least because James always seemed to be there, and Slughorn had apparently long ago set his mind on them (she and James) 'getting together', and delighted in setting up little matchmaking games for the two. Also, she fancied Slughorn as pompous and a little annoying, and had no desire to be exposed to him for longer than was necessary.

Secretly though, she was always pleased, and flattered at his praise for her work in his class.

The class was handed out their papers, and for a few minutes the room chattered, as people exchanged marks, or attempted to hide them from prying friends.

Slughorn then returned to the front of the class, having handed out all of the papers. He clapped his hands twice, and retrieved the attention of the class.

Soon again, a bustle broke out around the classroom, as the practical part of the lesson began, and students began fetching ingredients and starting up fires underneath their cauldrons.

James made his way over to the store cupboard, wincing at an explosion that had just come from a cauldron over in the corner- Bennard Longbottom, the clumsy twin brother of Frank Longbottom.

Green steam emitted from the corner, and spread through the classroom, then, as it cleared, Bennard emerged from beneath his cauldron, covered in soot.

James smiled.

**(A/N: that was a random end to the scene, I know. But random and me, we're old friends. ******

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

BRRRRRINNNNNGGGGG!!!!

The bell for lunchtime rang out through the halls of Hogwarts School.

Professor McGonagall tapped the blackboard with her stick. "All right then, class. When you've finished copying down these diagrams, you may leave. Homework; I would like 3 feet on the progression in the transformation from human from to an animal of your choice, using the Animagus Bastroll Theory. That will be all".

The classroom was filled with the sound of scraping chairs as the class got up to leave. James dashed his quill over the last arrow in his diagram, then stood up, slamming his books shut as he did so.

As he and Remus made their way out into the hallway, he turned to his friend to speak.

"So, where were you earlier?"

"What? Oh, that. Some third years got into a fight on the 5th floor. Just outside the Arithmancy classroom? Well, I had to go and-" but at that moment, Remus was cut off by a sharp yell from down the corridor. Both Remus and James turned to look, and saw (to James' horror and to Remus' amusement) what looked like the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team storming down the corridor towards them.

"POTTER!!!"

James turned slightly pale, and a murmured 'Uh-oh" issued from his slack-jawed mouth.

The next thing they knew, the team were upon them.

"Uh- hi guys! What's up?" James tried, with an attempt at a casually innocent tone.

"What's up." Repeated Thomas Gander, who seemed to be leading the revolt.

He turned to the rest of the team, who were standing behind him, stony faced, with their arms crossed over their chests.

"Did you hear that?" said Gander in a disgusted voice, "He asked us what's up."

He turned back to James.

"What's up? I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S UP! WHAT"S UP IS THAT YOU, YOU AND YOUR IDIOT FRIEND BLACK JUST GOT YOURSELVES KICKED OFF THE QUIDDITCH TEAM!"

"Well- uh- technically, no, I did not get kicked off the team. I was suspended from the team! It's important to get these things right, you know. Details, details, people." said James in a cheery voice.

The solemn group of people in front of him was not amused.

"WHATEVER, POTTER! WE DON'T NEED YOUR SMART ARSE COMMENTS! THE POINT IS, WE HAVE A GAME ON SATURDAY, AND YOU MAY WELL HAVE RUINED OUR CHANCES AT WINNING!!!!!"

A low growl reverberated around the angry small crowd.

"Um. Sorry?" James suggested weakly.

"Sorry? SORRY?" said Cecelia Brockman, stepping forward.

"Oh, I'm afraid that 'sorry' s just not going to cut it, Potter," she spat the words out in a soft, deadly voice.

Suddenly, she seemed to lose control over herself.

"ARRRGH! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO OUR TEAM??!!" she screamed, attacking him with her fists.

James stepped back. "And that's score 3 on the arm-count," he muttered to himself, vaguely wondering whether his skeptical opinions on such matters as De Ja Vu would need rethinking after today.

"What?" she asked icily.

"Nothing", he replied quickly.

Thomas came forward again until he was almost nose to nose with James.

"We're not happy, Potter. Not happy at all," he almost whispered, rolling the syllables venomously around on his tongue.

"You will regret this, Potter," he said in a deathly quiet voice, so nobody else could hear.

And with that he turned, and stalked back down the corridor, followed by the rest of the team.

One small second year lingered long enough to stick his tongue out at James in what he evidently thought was a 'cool', defiant gesture, before hurrying to catch up with the team.

James slowly let out a long, drawn out breath. He turned to Remus, who appeared to be struggling very hard not to laugh.

"I won't say I told you so," Remus said.

James sighed, and the two of them proceeded down to Lunch.

**The end of my second chappy! Please review, at last count I only had 2! **

**I love you all!**

**- lime-oku**


	3. That Freaking Koala

**A/N: Well, hi every body!!! I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SO sorry for keeping you waiting for this chapter for so long!!! I got writers block, and then I had heaps and heaps of homework, and EXAMS, and basically NO TIME FOR DOING ANYTHING REMOTELY FUN. **

**I still don't really know where I am going with this story- there really is no plot except the general idea of throwing Lily and James into situation after awkward situation until, to my surprise as much as any body else's, they finally end up together. I guess that's why it's called A Tale of Perserverance.**

**Anyway, I promise to try and update more frequently in the future, though that will probably mean the chapters aren't as long….. **

**Anyways, ON WITH THE SHOW!!!!!**

That Freaking Koala

Lily woke early the next morning. She sprang out of bed, her eyes wide open, and proceeded to get ready for breakfast.

A happy smile adorned her face as she brushed then knots out of her long red hair, she hummed tunelessly to herself. Lily had never been much of a singer.

Today, she thought as she gazed out the dormitory window at the deep blue sky, was going to _be one of those days. _

The sun was shining in through the glass panes, bathing the dormitory in a warm yellow light, and casting a shimmering rainbow onto one of the beds by the door.

She skipped into the adjoining bathroom, and surveyed her vast collection of perfumes and body sprays. These always enhanced her feeling of freshness in the mornings, although the other girls in her dormitory were sceptical of this muggle idea ( 'why not just use a Scenting charm? Those are so… wet!')

From the shelf, Lily plucked a thin green tube labelled 'Minty Fresh'. A few puffs completed her feeling of lively contentedness.

She skipped back into the dormitory, grabbed her satchel bag from her bed, and threw open the door.

"AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHH!!!!!!" She screamed.

Clinging to the banister opposite her, looking like some sort of absurd koala, was the gangly body of James Potter.

_Then again, perhaps not one of those days…_

"Potter!" Lily's heart was beating at a million miles per hour. "What- the- HELL- are- you- doing?"

"Um…" , Potter said intelligently, obviously unable to think of a good excuse as to why he was clinging to the bannister of the girls' staircase at 6.30 in the morning.

"Ummmmm… Uh- Stretching?"

Lily glared at him.

"I'm- well, if you must know, I'm trying to get up the staircase."

"What?"

"The staircase. It _slides_, you see. This is the only was I can get up", said James the koala boy, from his awkward position.

"You look like a freaking KOALA."

"A- what, sorry?"

"A Koala. Australian animal. Climbs trees? Oh come on, don't tell me you have never heard of Australia," she said at the confused look on his face.

"No, no, I have. A kwalla? Koo- wah- laa… Koowalla?"

"That's right."

"Oh."

"Fat. Lazy. Likes to sleep. A LOT."

"Oh. And that's what I look like?"

"That's what you _are_."

"Oh. Okay."

Lily folded her arms and glared at him.

Silence ensued, James still straddling the banister, his arms wrapped tightly around it. Lily's eyes bored into him.

She seemed to be waiting for something.

"Well?" She demanded.

"Well…what?" said James.

"Well, why were you trying to climb the banister."

"uh… no reason." James said with an attempt at a casual tone.

"Uh-huh. SO you just decided to get up at…. About what time would you say it was?"

"About 6.30."

"At 6.30 in the morning and climb up the banister of the girls' staircase for NO REASON?"

"Um. Yeah?"

"That's pathetic."

"Er. Sorry."

"Are you going to tell me why you're REALLY clinging to that thing like a KOALA?"

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

"Well?" There was a slight pause.

"Uh…. Gottagobye!" said James in one breath, releasing his grip on the banister and sliding the length of the rail to the bottom.

"Potter!" Lily sighed in frustration. She turned to go back into her dormitory. She needed a panadol.

As she looked out of the window, a cloud moved across the sky to block out the sun. She sighed again.

_Ah. Definitely not one of those days. _

James crossed the common room to the boys staircase, and hobbled up to the door of his dormitory, hobbling up the stairs gingerly.

When he reached the door, he went in and collapsed on his unmade bed.

The other marauders gathered around him as he massaged his thighs painfully.

"Ouch" he said to the world at large.

"SO. What happened?" Inquired Sirius.

"Wait, don't tell me- Lily", said Remus.

"Lily? Who's Li- Oh, _Lily _! What about her?" said Peter.

"I spent a full half hour inching my way up that stair rail" , cried James, wincing at the strain in his leg muscles as he attempted to stand up.

"Cramps," he explained.

Remus was staring at him incredulously.

"You climbed the banister of the girls staircase at this time of morning?", he said, eye brows raised.

"Yeah."

"WHY?" Remus asked.

"Wow, that is SUCH a good idea! Why in all my years of stalking young girls, I never-" Sirius rambled.

"Padfoot- shut up. WHY?" Remus said again.

"Well, because…. Because, Lily." James said, obviously under the impression that this was a sufficient answer to the question.

"Lily."

"Yes. Lily."

"James Potter," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"You called?"

"You are a hopeless, stupid, foolish, case of an idiot."

James bent his body into a ridiculous bow, with much flamboyant twirling of his hands.

"Thankyou, kind sir."

He then collapsed under the strain of his aching muscles.

"Ouch."

**A/N: Well, this was a short chapter, and it would have been longer, however I did not want to keep you waiting for too much longer, so the next chapter will hopefully be coming along soon…**

**Remember to reviews please- constructive criticism is always welcome!!!**

**And if you like what I am doing here, please tell your friends to come and read too!!!! I feel rather alone….. only 7 reviews… SOB!!!! **

**Anyway, more gabble about my little two Potters soon!!!**

**Lime-oku**


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